{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T02:08:51Z","timestamp":1783476531234,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758499200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Government","award":["2022N9E847"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022N9E847"]}]},{"name":"Italian Government","award":["0013837-04-08-2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["0013837-04-08-2022"]}]},{"name":"MUR","award":["2022N9E847"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022N9E847"]}]},{"name":"MUR","award":["0013837-04-08-2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["0013837-04-08-2022"]}]},{"name":"ISIS Neutron and Muon Source of the STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council)","award":["2022N9E847"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022N9E847"]}]},{"name":"ISIS Neutron and Muon Source of the STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council)","award":["0013837-04-08-2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["0013837-04-08-2022"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nanomaterials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Understanding the interactions between carbon quantum dots (CDs) and promising food preservatives (FPs), like pyrogallol (PG), benzoic acid (BA), and gallic acid (GA), is highly relevant. This knowledge is crucial for designing CD-based sensors capable of determining the safe levels of these molecules in food and beverages. Additionally, such sensors could be exploited in the development of sustainable, intelligent packaging that controls food shelf life. Based on those considerations, in this study, we post-functionalized blue-emitting CDs, prepared according to a synthetic approach previously developed, with the FP molecules PG, BA, and GA to obtain CD-(FP) systems. UV-vis absorption and FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of the FP molecules on the CD surface. The appearance of a new vibrational band at 1196 cm\u22121 in the FTIR spectra of all CD-(FP) systems suggested that the three FP molecules interact with the CD surface via electronic interactions between the aromatic and delocalized electron systems. Further electrochemical analyses of the CD-(PG) and CD-(GA) systems show that the interactions between PG and GA benzene rings and CDs prevent their oxidation to the corresponding quinone forms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nano15181457","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T17:08:17Z","timestamp":1758560897000},"page":"1457","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Carbon Quantum Dots Interactions with Pyrogallol, Benzoic Acid, and Gallic Acid: A Study on Their Non-Covalent Nature"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Laura","family":"Andria","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Chimica della Materia Condensata e di Tecnologie per l\u2019Energia, CNR-ICMATE, Via Cozzi, 53, I-20125 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2817-0306","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giancarlo","family":"Capitani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze dell\u2019Ambiente e della Terra, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 1, I-20126 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4340-9717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"La Ferla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Chimica della Materia Condensata e di Tecnologie per l\u2019Energia, CNR-ICMATE, Via Cozzi, 53, I-20125 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze dell\u2019Ambiente e della Terra, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 1, I-20126 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3845-7017","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heiko","family":"Lange","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze dell\u2019Ambiente e della Terra, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 1, I-20126 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"Biochemical Process Engineering, Division of Chemical Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lule\u00e5 University Technology, SE-97187 Lule\u00e5, Sweden"},{"name":"NBFC-National Biodiversity Future Center, I-90133 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4765-6974","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Melissa","family":"Saibene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Piattaforma di Microscopia, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, I-20126 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Zoia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze dell\u2019Ambiente e della Terra, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 1, I-20126 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1549-7032","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Vercelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Chimica della Materia Condensata e di Tecnologie per l\u2019Energia, CNR-ICMATE, Via Cozzi, 53, I-20125 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.1038\/s41565-021-01051-7","article-title":"A multifunctional chemical toolbox to engineer carbon dots for biomedical and energy applications","volume":"17","author":"Arcudi","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. 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